Page 114 of Finding Fate

Only the faint light from the cloudless night sky and ambient glow of faraway city lights streams into the small room. Another whimper draws my attention back to the small lump beside me.

"Hello?" I whisper. Damn, how long was I out? By the dryness of my throat and mouth, it feels like days since I last had water. And I need to pee. "Who are you?"

"Where am I?" the girl moans.

Like me, her hands are secured behind her back but her feet are free. Hoping I don't nudge her anywhere she's injured, I hook my feet against her hip, rolling her to her back.

Squinting, I search her profile. "Lauren?" What the hell? "What are you doing here?"

Her head rolls to face me straight on, eyes widening as she sucks in a breath. "You? What... why... where’s Jace?"

"Right here," a man’s voice replies. "So you two do remember each other. Good. I wondered if taking the whore was in vain or not. Seems like not."

"What's going on?" Lauren cries and rolls like she's trying to scoot as far away from the man looming in the backlit doorway as possible. "You said...."

"Why is she here? This is between us, Jace."

"What's between you two?" Lauren screams. "Get me out of here. Someone help—"

I don't hear it, don't see it, but the gurgling, wet coughing from beside tells me everything I need to know. Seconds tick by as the sounds of looming death fade and then stop completely.

Maybe Africa hardened me, or the shock of what's happening in the moment has numbed my senses, but I don't cry, don't scream, just stare at the lifeless body beside me.

"Why?" I eventually whisper. "Why her?"

"Damn, this gun is cool," he muses to himself, rotating the gun in front of his face. "Why her? She's the only one who can tie me to you. Once you tell me what gave me away and you're taken care of, I'm back to being a ghost, which is what I should’ve stayed. Except you"—his shoe nails my bare ankle with a crack—"had to go on your crusade. And now look at where we are. He should’ve let you die in Africa, let me tell them who you were early on and all this could’ve been done. But no, you think you’re so fucking smart leaving the information behind, secure. And now we’re here. Damn he’s pissed because if they find me, they find him."

"He?" So it's true that bastard from the CIA has been in on this from the beginning.

"Now I get to wrap up the loose ends, which I'm fine with. Killing you is something I've dreamed about since I learned who you really are. So sneaky watching me online and off. So tell me, what gave me away? What did I leave behind that you tracked to me? What was my tell?"

Using my legs as leverage, I wiggle against the floor to sit up. "You do know I'm better than you, right? I've been taught by the best whereas you, you're sloppy and untrained. It was simple once I figured out your biggest security flaw." Fingertips pressing against floor, I inch toward him.

"Which is?" he says with restrained annoyance.

"Right," I huff and scoot closer. "Like I'm going to tell you that. It’s the one piece of information I left behind. So no, this doesn't end with me. It ends with us."

My hair pulls at the roots as he hauls my head back by my ponytail. "Fucking bitch! What is it?"

"Screw you," I breathe and slam a foot into his shin. The grip on my hair releases as he stumbles backward, falling hard against the wall.

The gun clatters to the floor.

Right in front of me.

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